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The Stormers and Glasgow Warriors head into their round 16 United Rugby Championship clash even-steven in motivation, said Stormers flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
He said his side suffering a poor defeat to Connacht a week after their team manager’s passing, and Glasgow incurring their biggest defeat of the season at the hands of the Lions, set them up for an epic clash at Cape Town Stadium at 1.45pm on Saturday.
It’s a one versus two clash on the URC log with only four points separating the teams.
Should the Stormers win by at least 10 points, or with a bonus point, they will regain pole position for the first time since their eight-match winning streak in the first half of the season. Only away fixtures against Ulster and Cardiff remain before the play-offs.
Both teams are desperate
Feinberg-Mngomezulu pointed out how Glasgow rested a few choice players during their 54-12 defeat to the Lions at Ellis Park, preparing for the Stormers clash.
The Stormers were without excuse, however, when Connacht beat them for the first time in four years (score 33-24 in Cape Town).
The Stormers went off-script during that match. While Feinberg-Mngomezulu had a great game, scoring a try, all three conversions, and a 51m penalty kick, it will be up to him to rein in his teammates in his 50th appearance for the club.
The SA Rugby Player of the Year nominee is second in the URC statistics for points scored (103).
“We also didn’t win at Ellis Park, so we’re definitely not taking them lightly,” the flyhalf said.
“I think the loss can also give you an emotionally charged team. So I don’t think many positives or negatives will work in our favour.
“If anything, it just puts it level and it’s going to be who’s best on the day because we both coming off the same emotional kind of roller coaster and two losses with no points.”
Stormers have not beaten Glasgow since 2022
He commended Glasgow coach Franco Smith, who praised the Lions for their deserved win.
“He’s a good coach, who seems to understand how we play. We will have to bring our A game and disrupt them in as many facets of the game as possible.”
Attack coach Dawie Snyman said the team will enjoy the return of centre/wing Suleiman Hartzenberg, though the Stormers team will only be announced at noon on Friday.
Head-to-head, the Scottish side have won the last five encounters between the teams, four of which were in Scotland. The Stormers won their first encounter in Cape Town in May 2022.
In their last encounter, Glasgow capitalised on a poor Stormers defence to win their URC quarter-final 36-18 at Scotstoun Stadium last May.
